After Daybreak Read Online Free Page A

quickly emerges from the driver’s side.
    In spite of our audience, Victor and I race toward each other. I collapse against him, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck as he brings me nearer. I’m overwhelmed with a sense of relief at being this close to him again. His warmth, his solidity offer reassurance. Even though I was just with him in my dream, being with him in the flesh is so much more satisfying. I think of where I am: in the middle of nowhere, Sin just behind us, and a deeper night still to come. Yet it doesn’t matter, because I’m with Victor.
    “I was so worried about you,” he whispers, and I feel his breath ruffling my hair as he holds me tightly.
    “I know, but we’re okay now.”
    Loosening our embrace, Victor looks me squarely in the eyes. I could stand here forever, relishing this moment. More breadth of wonder rests in his blue eyes than in the vast skies above us.
    When Jeff finishes shaking Michael’s hand and giving him a pat on the shoulder, he turns to me. “Hey, sunshine. Good to see you.”
    I smile, release a tiny laugh as I hug him. In addition to serving as a bodyguard for the Agency, he’s been dating my guardian and mentor, Rachel Goodwin. He’s become as special to me as she’s always been.
    I introduce them to George and Dr. Jameson, give a brief accounting of all they’ve done for us.
    “Thank you for taking them in,” Victor says. “I know trust is a rarity in places like this.”
    “That it is. But even more rare is an Old Family vampire showing up,” George says, an eyebrow raised.
    Victor gives a wry smile and looks at me. Old Family vampires are elegant, suave, sophisticated. Comfortable with what they are. Humans who are turned—Lessers—never quite achieve that beauty. Victor may be dressed in jeans, a black long-sleeve T-shirt, and a leather duster, but there is something regal in his bearing. Confidence oozes off him. And if I’m honest with myself, he is quite simply gorgeous in a way that’s impossible to hide.
    “I hope that isn’t a problem,” Victor says.
    “It doesn’t have to be,” George says. “So long as you understand we ain’t under your jurisdiction .”
    “I’d never dream of it,” Victor says.
    “Well, that’s settled, then. I can tell you’re itchin’ to have a talk with your little lady. When you’re ready, come inside and we’ll have a sit-down.”
    He heads back into Dr. Jameson’s house. The doctor, Michael, and Jeff follow him.
    The townsfolk have come over to examine Victor’s car. They run their hands over the smooth surface and make noises of appreciation. Since the war, cars are rare and no doubt a curiosity for them.
    Putting some distance between them and us, Victor guides me over to the side of the road and cradles my face. “I was so scared, Dawn.”
    Lowering his head, he kisses me tenderly.
    The world falls away, and it’s just us and the stars above in this desolate place. We stand like a pair of wildflowers that somehow grew in this dry sand, and we breathe together, and move together, and entangle ourselves around each other.
    Pulling back, he skims his knuckles over my cheek. “This is so much better than what we shared in the dreams.” He shakes his head. “But there I could stay. In the real world, I have to walk away.”
    Victor said before I left Denver that we couldn’t be together. That I’m the weakness his enemies will exploit. But it’s too late.
    “Walking away won’t protect either of us now. Sin wants me to kill you.”
    His jaw tightens.
    I continue, “It’s the price I have to pay to keep everyone else I care about safe.”
    Victor stares at me, perhaps wondering if I would actually take Sin up on the offer. Not because I’m afraid, but because of how much I care for all my friends.
    “I told him to shove it,” I say quickly, and Victor laughs. “Maybe not in those exact words, but I think the message was clear.”
    I put my hand on Victor’s heart, as though protecting it